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(No Model W. F. LAY.. SYSTEM OF MINING GOLD BEARING PLAGERS.

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NITED' STATES- PATENT rica.

WVILLIAM F. LAY, or NEW YORK, 7N. Y.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 595,457, dated December 14,1897.

Application filed January 20, 1896. Serial No. 576,071. (No model.)

To all whom, it may concern.-

Be it known that I, VVILLIAM F. LAY, a citizen of the United States, residing at New York city, in the county and State of New York, have invented a certain new and useful System of Mining Gold-Bearin g Placers, of which the following is a specification.

The object I have in view is the mining of placer deposits or similar deposits of a sedimentary nature containing gold or other valuable mineral and the recovery of the gold or other valuable mineral therefrom in a rapid and economical manner, and especially in locations where a sufficient head and quantity of water are not available for hydraulic mining as ordinarily conducted.

In carrying out my invention I employ a power plant operated by a steam'engine or othersou roe of power, and the power thus obtained drives one or more hydraulic pumps for supplying giant nozzles which disintegrate the placer and also drives one or more centrifugal pumps, which by their powerful suction draw the mixture of water and placer material from near the point where the placer is disintegrated by the nozzles to the mill. At the mill the material is delivered to revolving separating and washing screens, which separate the small percentage of valuable mineral-bearin g material from the large percentage of worthless debris, which is conveyed to the dump. The valuable mineralbearing material is then further treated by suitable processes to recover the mineral therefrom. In the case of gold-bearing placers, to which the invention is especially applicable, the small percentage of gold-bearing sand and gravel which is separated from the large percentage of worthless debris by the revolving separating and washing screens is preferably carried to other separating and washing screens, where the sand and gravel are separated from each other, the sand be ing run into a settling-tank, from which it may be taken at intervals and smelted, while the gold-bearing gravel is delivered to an amalgamating-table for the collection of the gold by the amalgamating process or is treated by any of the other well-known processes suitable for the purpose. If the valuable gold-bearing residuum after the removal of the worthless debris is all suitable either for smelting or for the amalgamating or similar process of recovering the gold, the second separation by the screens will not be performed, but the residuum will be conveyed directly from the first set of screens to the settlingtank or the amalgamating-table, as the case may be. The water which is delivered with the placer material to the screens and the additional water taken directly from the source of supply, which is required in the separating and recovering processes, is not allowed to run to waste, but is conveyed, after it has performed its duty in the separating and re- Artesian wells, by power or by gravity.

The mining is performed as follows: A pit is excavated with the nozzles or otherwise in the placer until the bed-rock is reached, and 'then a sump is blasted out of the bed-rock.

Into this sump is placed the suction-pipe of the centrifugal pumps. The side walls of the pit are then disintegrated by the nozzles and the placer material is washed along the bedrock into the sump, from whence it is elevated and delivered to the revolving separating and washing screens at the mill by the centrifu gal pumps. Care should be taken not to wash into the sump boulders which cannot readily pass through the pipe and pump. This can be avoided by removing such boulders'by hand or byplacing a screening-plate over the sump and around the suctionpipe. As the placer is washed away new sumps will be blasted out of the bed-rock and the suctionpipe will be extended to them. The material being washed along the surface of the bedrock into the sump the bedrock will itself be washed clean and all the gold-bearing sand and gravel, which are found principally at or near the surface of the bed-rock, will be sethe details of one of the revolving separating and washing screens.

A is the placer deposit, and B is the bedrock. C is a pit excavated in the placer, and i D is the sump, blasted in the bed-rock. E is the suction-pipe, whose inlet is located in the sump. F and F are giant nozzles con- I nected with the pressure-pipe G. To the left of these features is illustrated in Fig. l the mill apparatus.

H is the centrifugal pump, which receives the placer material mixed with water and forces it through a pipe E into the hopper a. From the hopper a the water and material pass, by means of a sluice Z), into the revolving separating and washing screen I. This'screen is of such mesh that it will allow to pass through its sides all particles bearing gold or other valuable mineral, while the large percentage of worthless material is discharged from the lower end of the screen into a hopper c, from which it passes to a suitable conveyer J, which carries it to the dump. The mesh of the screen I will vary with different deposits, the proper size being determined in e'a'chcas'e. This screen, it will be understood, is illustrative of any number of screens (one or more) which maybe required to effect this preliminary separation of the worthless debris from the valuable residuum. In case the valuable residuum is gol'd-bearin g sand and gravel this material, which passes with the water through the sides of the screen I, is received by an inclined trough or other suitable conveyer d and delivered through a hopper e and sluice f to a revolving separating and washing screen K, which, like the screen I, is illustrative of any number 'of screens (one 'or more) which may be required to do this work. The screen K is 'of such mesh that it permits the goldbearing sand to pass through its sides to the trough or other suitable conveyer g, by which it is led with the water to the settling-tank L. The screen K completes the work of disintegration, separating the sand and gravel. The water passes through the screen with the sand, thus draining the water from the gravel. The gold-bearing gravel is discharged from the end of the screen K into a hopper h, from which it passes to the amalgamating-table M.

The revolving separating and washing screens I and K are preferably steel cylin-i ders supported by suitable spiders at their;

ends and at one or more intermediate points, if required, and having rectangular or other shaped openings in their sides, which are covered by suitable perforated screen plates, bolted thereto, so that they may be readily removed when worn out. The screen is stiffened by longitudinal bars 1', connecting the heads within the cylinder, which bars also act as stirrers, carrying a portion of the material from the bottom of the screen upwardly on one side and showering it down upon the material in the bottom of the screen. The screen is supported on its ends by hollow trunnionsj, through which passes a stationary central water-pipe 70, provided with a series of nipples 7t on its under side, which deliver jets of water under pressure to the surface of the material in the screen. Another similar pipe Z may be located above and outside of the screen'and extending longitudinally thereof, delivering jets of water to the outside of the screen and serving to clear the screen-perforations. IVithin the screens I attach to the longitudinal stirring-bars i and to the steel cylinder inclined conveying-plates m,which serve, by the revolution of the screen, to drive the material lengthwise of the screen from its receiving to its discharging end. These conveyers are required because the screens are set in a horizontal position, or only slightly inclined therefrom, the object being to have the material traverse the screens slowly and to be thoroughly washed and screened before reaching the discharge end.

N is a water-reservoir which is supplied from the primary source, such as a stream or Arte'sian wells, by power or gravity through a pipe 0. The overflow from the settlingtank L is received by the reservoir N as well as the water from the amalgamating-table M. Apipe Pleads from the reservoir N to the inlet of the hydraulic-pressure pump Q, from the outlet of which the pressure-supply pipe G extends to the giant nozzles F F. Another and smaller press'ure-pum p R also takes water from the reservoir N and supplies, through branches at, 0, p, q, and 7', water to "the hopper h for the axnalganrating-table, to the central pipes 7c of the screens, and to the exterior pipes Z of the screens. A pipe S also leads from the reservoir N back to the pit C, conveying any desired amount of water to the sump D independent of the nozzles, so as to give such additional water for the suction of the centrifugal pumps as may be required over that furnished by the nozzles and assist the water supplied by the two 'or more giant nozzles in conveyin g the material to the suction-pipe. This is especially desirable where a number "of small giant nozzles are used instead of one large giant nozzle and with deposits carrying a large amount of boulders and cement, since with suchdeposits the division of the water between a number of nozzles increases the diiii-culty of washing the boulders to the suction-pipe, and the additional water is required to assist in this opera'tion and act as a conveyer for the boulders.

What I claim is 1. Ina system of mining gold-bearing pl'acer's or similar sedimentary deposits,where a natural head of water is not available, the combination of a pit excavated in the placer to the bed-rock and a sump therein formed in the bed-rock, with one or more disintegratingnozzles for disintegrating the placer material and washing it along the surface of the bedrock into the sump, a force pump or pumps for supplying water under pressure to the said nozzle or nozzles, a suction-pipe opening in said sump, a centrifugal pump connected with said suction-pipe for elevating the mixed water and placer material from said sump, and means for supplying water to said it independently of the said disintegrating-nozzles, substantially as set forth.

2. In a system of mining gold-bearing placers or similar sedimentary deposits, wherein a natural head of water is not available,the combination of apit excavated in the placer to the .water and placer material from said sump, a

revolving screen I to which the mixed water and placer material are delivered and by which the heavy debris is separated, a discharge from said screen for receiving the water and separated gold-bearing residuum, a second revolving screen to which such water and gold-bearin g residuum are delivered and by which the water is separated from the gold-bearing residuum, and means for subsequently extracting the gold from said residuum, substantially as set forth.

3. In a system'of mining gold-bearing placers or similar sedimentary deposits, wherein .a natural head of Water is not available,the combination of a pit excavated in the placer to the bed-rock and a sump therein formed in the bed-rock, with one or more disintegratingnozzles for disintegrating the placer material and washing the same along the surface of the bed-rock into the sump, a force pump or pumps for supplying water under pressure to said nozzle or nozzles, a suction-pipe opening in said sump, a centrifugal pump connected with said suction-pipe for elevating the mixed water and placer material from said sump, a revolving screen I to which the mixed water and placer material are delivered and by which the heavy debris is separated, a discharge from said screen for receiving the water and separated gold-bearing residuum, a second revolving screen to which the water and gold-bearing residuum are delivered and by which the water is separated from said gold-bearing residuum, an amalgamating-table for extracting the gold from the gold-bearing residuum, and a regulated independent water-supply for washing the gold-bearing residuum on the said amalgamating-table, substantially as set forth.

4. In a system of mininggold-bearingplacers or similar sedimentary deposits, wherein a natural head of water is not availab1e,the combination of a pit excavated in the placer to the bed-rock and a sump therein formed in the bed-rock,with one or more disintegrating-nozzles for disintegrating the placer material and washing the same along the surface of the bedrock into the sump, a force pump or pumps for supplying water under pressure to said nozzle or nozzles, a water-reservoir N for supplying said force pump or pumps, a suctionpipe opening in said sump, a centrifugal pump connected with said suction-pipe for elevating the mixed water and placer material from said sump, a revolving screen I above said reservoir to which the mixed water and placer material are delivered and by which the debris is separated, a discharge from said screen for receiving the water and separated goldbearing residuum, a second revolving screen K to which such Water and gold-bearing residuum are delivered and by which the water is separated from the residuum, a discharge for the water separated bysaid second screen, a settling-tank L connected with the said discharge and having an overflow to the reservoir, a second discharge from said screen K receiving the gold-bearing residuum therefrom, an amalgamating-table M connected to the latter discharge, an'independent watersupply for washing the residuum on said table, and a pump R for supplying said water-supply and connected to said reservoir, substantially as set forth.

5. In a system of minin g gold-bearing placers or similar sedimentary deposits, where a natural head of water is not available, the combination of a pitexcavated in the placer to the bed-rock, a sump formed in the bed-rock, one or more disintegrating-nozzles at the pit for disintegrating the placer material and washing it along the surface of the bed-rock to said sump, a suction-pipe opening in said sump at the pit for elevating the mixed water and placer material from the pit, one or more force-pumps at the mill for supplying the said nozzles, a water-reservoir from which the force-pumps take their supply, a centrifugal pump at the mill connected with the said suction-pipe, separating apparatus to which the centrifugal pump delivers the mixed water and placer material for separating the large percentage of worthless debris from the small percentage of gold-bearing residuum, means for disposing of the debris, means for extractin g the gold from the valuable residuum, means for supplying to the separating apparatus from said reservoir water in addition to that which is supplied with the placer material by the centrifugal pump, means for collecting the'water from the separating apparatus in said reservoir, and means for delivering water to said pit independently of the said disintegrating nozzle or nozzles, substantially as set forth.

6. In a system of mininggold-bearin g placers or similar sedimentary deposits, where a natural head of water is not available, the combination of a pit excavated in the placer to the bed-rock and a sump therein formed in the bed-rock, a storage-reservoir adjacent to the pit and above the level of the sump, a force pump or pumps connected with said reservoir, one or more disintegrating-nozzles for disintegrating the placer material and Washing the same along the surface of the bedrock into the sump, said nozzles receiving water under pressure from said force-pump, a suction-pipe opening into said sump, a centrifugal pump connected with said suction-pipe for elevating the mixed water and placer material from said sump, separating apparatus above the reservoir and to Which the mixed water and placer material are delivered by said centrifugal pump, and a discharge from said separating apparatus for conveying the water therefrom back to said reservoir,substantially as set forth.

7. In a system of mining gold-bearing placers' or similar sedimentarydeposits,where a natural head of water is not available, the combination of a pit excavated in the placer to the bed-rock and a sump therein formed in the bed-rock, a storage-reservoir adjacent to the pit and above the level of the sump, a force pump or pumps connected with said reservoir, one or more disintegrating-nozzles for disintegrating the placer material and washing the same along the surface of the bed-rock into the sump, said nozzles receiving Water under pressure from said force-pump, a suction-pipe opening into said sump, a centrifugal pump connected with said suction-pipe for elevating the mixed water and placer material from said sump, separating apparatus above the reservoir and to which the mixed Water and placer material are delivered by said centrifugal pump, a discharge from said separating apparatus, a settling-tank connected with said discharge for receiving the same and for allowing solid materials to separate from the Water therein, and an overflow for conveying the Water from said settling-tank back to the reservoir, substantially as set forth.

S. Inasystem of mining gold-bearing placers or similar sedimentary deposits,where a natural head of Water is not available, the combination of a pit excavated in the placer to the bed-rock and a sump therein formed in the bed-rock, a storage-reservoir adjacent to the pit and above the level of the sump, a force pump or pumps connected with said reservoir, one or more disintegrating-nozzles for disintegratin g the placer material and Washin g the same along the surface of the bed-rock into the sump, said nozzles receiving water under pressure from said force-pu mp, asuction-pipe opening into said sump, a centrifugal pump connected with said suction-pipe for elevating the mixed water and placer material from said sump, separating apparatus above the reservoir and to which the mixed Water and placer material are delivered by said centrifugal pump, a discharge from said separating apparatus for conveying the Water therefrom back to said reservoir, an amalgamating-table adjacent to said reservoir for receiving the gold-bearing residuum from the separating apparatus, and an independent water-supply for said amalgamating-table, whereby water may be pumped upon said amalgamating-table and from thence Will flow to the reservoir, substantially as set forth.

This specification signed and witnessed this 16th day of January, 1896.

XVILLIAM F. LAY.

Witnesses:

EUGENE CONRAN, JOHN R. TAYLOR. 

